Picture this...

The scene played out in the hallway on the third floor of the Federal Building in Bismarck, where Marc has his main office.  He had just left his office and ran into a man that works down the hall as an assistant United States Attorney.  Marc knows this guy casually and has never had a long conversation with this guy before yesterday.

Marc said that this guy initiated small talk about some governmental law involving drugs.  Marc acknowledged he knew about this new law and that's when this guy shoved not just his foot, but his whole damn leg into his mouth.  This guy told Marc he couldn't say what he was going to tell Marc in his office (United States Attorney's Office), but for some reason, he 'knew' he could tell Marc.  He then proceeded to enlighten Marc that this knew law was "A black thing, because of Obama and that's what brother's do."  He then added that drug addiction was also a "Black thing." 

That's when Marc said, "Hey, you know what?  I have 4 black kids!"  He said the look on his face was that of someone being punched in the belly and all the air escaping leaving them suffocating and drooling.  That's when the guy started checking his watch and saying he had to run, but not before Marc enlightened him in the ways of his ignorance.  Marc has a little more diplomacy and eloquence in his 'chats' than I do and I am sure this guy walked away not even sure he had been made to feel ignorant, but feeling justifiably embarrassed by his gross behavior.

What bugs me most about this situation is that this man is an attorney representing the United States government.  He has a picture of President Obama in the office where he works as does Marc.  It's part of the respect that is given to the Commander in Chief of our country.  This guy may not like Obama's policies, but he needs to be respectful and keep the derogatory slurs to himself.  Hey, Marc wasn't wild about Bush as president, yet when his picture hung in his office in the Federal Building, Marc was respectful of the man and the position he held. 

I guess this butt-hole guy showed his true colors of bigotry and racism with what he said to Marc in the halls of the Federal Building.  I wonder how unbiased and open-minded he would be if he was prosecuting a young black man accused of drug crimes?  I'm willing to bet, he would exhibit all the politically correct statements in public, and behind closed doors, berate and belittle ALL black people with the stroke of a broad brush and paint them all as stupid, unemployed dope dealers. 

It's 2011 people.  What's with judging people merely by the amount of pigment in their skin?  Judge people based on their actions, not by their appearance. 

Poop

This is not a post about fecal matter, rather a post about my feelings.  We heard back from GLA and found out that the two little girls from Jeremie are NOT Richnigthder's little sisters.  I was so hoping that there were and we could bring them home and Richnigthder could grow up with his birth siblings.

Alas, they are not. Having faith in my heart that God knows best, I will continue to pray that his birthfamily is safe from the EQ that occured so very long ago now and that if they bring anymore beloved children to a creche, God leads them to us.  I have room  in my heart and home and pray that God leads us to whatever child is meant to be with us in his wisdom. 

It's a small world though, as the guy that emailed me back from GLA has a wife named Cheryl who will be an Orlando Chick next March.  Amazing how tiny this little planet is in reality!

Tick tock, tick tock

We are counting down the days until our dear friends the Watkins family and the Dorcheus family join us for a week of fun.   Next Tuesday, Mike, Tifanni and their 4 gorgeous, funny kids, invade our place.  Then on Wednesday, Nate and Kristi and their 3 kids cruise on in.  I am actually looking forward to the noise and laughter and occasional fight amongst the kids.  Of course being dutiful parents, each of us having passed rigorous home studies for the adoption process, and have been deemed reliable, sensible, upstanding citizens well prepared to parent and guide children thru to adulthood.  In order to ensure that the 6 grown ups survive the chaos, we plan to rely on proven parenting techniques that have withstood the test of time.......LIQUOR!

On Friday, our pack of wild animals will head out in caravan to head to Haiti in our Hearts camp in Alexandria, Minnesota.  Friday afternoon to Sunday our families will be chillin' at Lake Geneva where the kids will swim in the lake, canoe, bike, climb rock walls, play basketball and dance till they can't keep their eyes open.  The parents will of course socialize with one another, compare notes on the stuff each of our kids have broken and just enjoy being in a setting where families like ours are the norm and we don't stand out.  We won't be asked probing, inappropriate questions about how are families came to be and we can just relax and let the kids have fun without feeling like everyone is staring at us.

Who knew that 2 years ago on Father's Day, we would meet two super couples at a hotel in Miami, eat dinner with them at a Cuban restaurant and then spend a couple days with them at our childrens'  creche in Haiti.  These couples have become important lifelines for Marc and me.  I spent time with Kristi 4 months ago in Orlando, along with 67 other women and it let us spend some time realizing the complexities of our lives and how much we have in common.  Tifanni and Mike have become dear, dear friends; God parent's to Richnigthder and Jerome and God forbid, our children's guardians should Marc and I die.  I still marvel in awe how our Haitian children, that lived so far away from all of us, brought us all together with a common bond.

I will be menu planning tomorrow to make sure we have tons of junk food on hand, slip and slides, hula hoops, nerf guns and all the bike tires are inflated awaiting their arrivals.  Naturally I will be stopping at the liquor store to pick up beverages of an adult nature and will of course, make sure I have tons of kook aid on hand for the wee ones.  My kids are so excited to know that these two families are coming to visit that they are a humongous pain in my butt right now.  Everyday, I get asked if tomorrow is the day everyone arrives.  Soon enough I will be able to tell them that today is the day.  Until then, I continue to clean and checking off the days on the calendar.

Summer sunshine, good friends, laughter and happy kids, that's what makes life worthwhile!